As an homage to Pride Month, my last few posts were about LGBT parenting options. Today I want to delve more into the choice of using donor eggs. There are multiple circumstances in which using donor eggs is the best (or only) solution for growing your family. Although, it can be a difficult paradigm shift, using someone else's eggs and/or sperm doesn't translate into it not being your child. Once you go through a pregnancy with your baby in your belly and give birth, the bond is the same. In many cases it's the best way to get lucky children in the hands of wonderful parents.
The New York Times recently published an article stating that roughly 6,000 children are born each year via egg donation. (And a million living adults are the biological children of sperm donors!) This was an informative article, but I felt that it portrayed children conceived by egg or sperm donor as being inherently fraught with angst about the means to their conception, which has not been my direct experience while seeing many families make this choice. As you continue your own evaluation, you can check the article out for some fodder in order to consider all the angles.
In my years of working with couples dedicated to trying anything to form a family, my experience with children who originated from the thoughtful choice of egg donation, has been very positive. The patients who visit me seeking help in getting pregnant are usually extremely mature, emotionally-grounded adults who understand the gravity of bringing a child into the world and are ready to commit their lives to raising their children... by whatever means those children come about. In this scenario, everyone benefits.
Laurel Fertility Care is a local San Francisco fertility clinic with, in my opinion, an outstanding egg donation service by virtue of caring and informed physicians as well as diverse donors.
Should you want more help exploring this topic, I highly recommend seeking out a therapist who can counsel you on the emotional grey areas of choosing egg donation.
